My Forbidden Desire by Carolyn Jewel (Book Review)

First sentence: An icy sensation prickled across the back of AlexandrineMarit's neck and raised gooseflesh on her arms.

About the book:Alexandrine was a witch - but not a very strong one. She had been given away by her father, RasmusKessler, at the age of 3 because she did not show any promising powers. She was what was known as vanilla (magekind with little power). Her father was a very powerful mage who had many magehelds (a fiend or demon who is under complete control of a magekind) to do his bidding. She did not find this out until she was an adult.

In traveling to find her biological parents - she meets a woman in Turkey and is given a talisman. Unbeknownst to her, this talisman is very valuable and contains the life and magic of a fiend that was siphoned off as they are dying. She has worn this talisman for the better part of nine months and it's power has slowly been leaking into her system. With good intentions she emails Alvaro Magellan to find out what her talisman is exactly and if it has any powers. Because of this email she becomes a target for her father, who wants to possess the talisman and will go to any lengths to get it - even if it means her death.

Xia, a demon and a former mageheld of Kessler's, is brought by her brother Harsh to protect her. Xia hates witches though and with good reason. It was because of a witch that he was rendered vulnerable and was able to be overpowered and enslaved as a mageheld. Witches and mages are known for their desire to kill demons. Alexandrine tries to convince him that she is not like other witches and would never hurt him. His ability to trust her is nil, but he knows that he must help her separate her powers from the talisman's before it kills one or both of them. Slowly his duty towards her turns to desire for her. Will he be able to control his desire and fulfill his duty? Or will his desire put her in even more danger?

My thoughts: This book was just okay for me. I felt like I was lacking background info - so about 1/2 way through I went searching to see if there was an earlier book - and BINGO - this is the sequel to My Wicked Enemy. I think it would be much easier to get into this book if you read My Wicked Enemy first! That would have made a huge difference for me - as I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how certain characters played into the storyline. I have a feeling much of this background is explained in the first book.